Woman accused of bilking her disabled clients

John Nickerson, Staff Writer

Published 9:37 pm, Tuesday, November 30, 2010

NORWALK -- A woman paid to assist the developmentally disabled with banking and manage their finances was arrested last week for allegedly stealing almost $6,000 in Social Security payments and paychecks from her clients in Norwalk and Fairfield, police said.

Michele Chevertte, 31, of 140 Alfred St., Bridgeport, was charged Nov. 23 with third-degree larceny and released on a written promise to appear in court.

Chevertte, a former assistant manager for CLASP Homes, admitted to police she spent the money on alcohol and drugs, her arrest warrant affidavit states.

The investigation began in October 2009, when Patricia Richards, vice president for CLASP Homes, came to police accusing Chevertte, a seven-year-employee of CLASP, of stealing money from the accounts of her clients.

In her statement to police, Richards said in early fall 2009 she determined money was missing from the accounts of four clients in Norwalk and two in Fairfield.

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According to the five-page affidavit by Detective William Maloney, Richards said Chevertte was confronted with the facts of the missing money but did not admit or deny involvement. Chevertte was fired before the police investigation began.

Richards told police client bank account information was missing and believed destroyed by Chevertte. In some cases, Social Security checks were not deposited into clients' accounts and paychecks for those clients were also missing or only partially deposited, Richards said .

In at least one case,

Chevertte took a client to the bank while off duty. The woman withdrew money and then gave it to Chevertte, a report by Richards contained in the court file said.

Richards said all missing money was repaid to the clients by Nov. 6, 2009. Additional safeguards such as having a CLASP director closely monitor client accounts and making those accounts available for review online have been put in place since the thefts were reported.

When Chevertte came to police headquarters to talk to Maloney this summer, Chevertte said she developed an alcohol and drug use problem after separating from her husband and children.

She said she was not aware exactly how much money she had stolen, but said that she had been doing it for months.

"I saw an opportunity to take from clients and took advantage of it. I feel that a lack of supervision on the upper management's part is what enabled me to get away with this. I can not say for sure how much exactly I took," she said in a statement contained in her arrest affidavit.

Chevertte is to appear in state Superior Court in Norwalk on Dec. 3 for arraignment on the larceny charge.

Staff Writer John Nickerson can be reached at 203-964-2320 or john.nickerson@scni.com.